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Wheeler adjusting to life in the bigs

Wheeler adjusting to life in the bigs

PHOENIX -- Since his promotion from Triple-A Reno on Friday, D-backs third baseman Ryan Wheeler has admittedly experienced more changes off the field than on it in his first Major League stint.

Just four days after being called up, the 24-year-old saw the club trade its previous mainstay at third base, Ryan Roberts. The move freed the D-backs to give more playing time to Wheeler, who entered Thursday with nine at-bats in the big leagues.

"I know that will open up opportunities for me, but the way that I come to the field and approach the game won't change at all," WheeIer said. "I think this shows they are confident in their system. They are giving me my shot now."

With the D-backs facing left-handers their previous three games, the left-handed-hitting Wheeler, who batted eighth on Thursday against the Mets, received three days off to start the week after appearing in three games over the weekend.

The time away from the lineup forced Wheeler, who played virtually every day while in Triple-A, to keep his body active in different ways.

"I think I've done a good job of tiring out my body so it's felt like I have been playing," he said. "I've been taking 20 minutes of ground balls, running back and forth, I've been doing a running program and throwing more, it's just more pregame stuff to get the legs tired and arm going."

"He's been working his tail off," Gibson said. "You want to make some little adjustments early on because I don't think you just throw him to wolves. He's done a lot of work and he's ready to play."

Besides being coached up when not in the lineup, Wheeler has had to deal with the initiations that come with being a rookie in the clubhouse.

The 24-year-old walked into the clubhouse Thursday sporting a new haircut, barbered by veteran teammate J.J. Putz. The closer wanted to give Wheeler the hairdo of another teammate, but they instead settled on a trim job.

"I negotiated the clipper guard up a little bit, they were going to give me a four on the side and I got it up to a seven so it doesn't look that terrible," Wheeler said. "They were going to give me the (Henry Blanco) haircut. I said I cannot do that but they got me anyways."

In addition to the haircut, Putz also engineered Wheeler's walk-up song to switch to "Candy Girl" by New Edition, a tune the young player was familiar with but not particularly a fan of.

"When I was walking up, I was confused because I didn't recognize it right away, so I thought there might be a theme of the day like in the minors," Wheeler said. "Then I was listening and I heard it, and I was like 'Oh my god.' I remembered it playing in J.J.'s locker before the game."

But like a true good sport, Wheeler has taken all the pranks in good fun and sees it as part of the experience of playing in the Majors.

"The guys have been awesome," he said. "It's been everything I expected and I'm starting to get more comfortable every day."